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Some
thoughts on inscriptions
in St Mary's Church
Felmersham
Bishop Wilkinson died 1914
Annie Margaret Green, one of Henry Green’s sisters
(see below),
married the Right Rev T E Wilkinson. Dr Wilkinson
served the church as a bishop for 44 years and at
one time was bishop of Zululand, South Africa. He
also spent 25 years as bishop of North and Central
Europe. Annie died in 1878 and her bishop husband
honoured her memory and that of one of their
daughters, by installing the gates and steps leading
to the church’s Early English west front.
St Boniface Anglican church in Antwerp was built
1906–09, in the Early English gothic style, and it
was consecrated by Dr Wilkinson, on 22nd April 1910.
Bishop Wilkinson died in 1914, and was buried in
Khartoum. However, at his request, a cross was
erected in St Mary’s churchyard to his memory and to
the memory of the dear ones lying around this
churchyard. The Celtic cross is a copy of the
8th century St Martins cross on the Island of Iona
in Scotland.
Ref: 115. Bishop Wilkinson's memorial > |
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Richard
Otway died 1621 aged 74 years |
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Ref: 14 and 13.
HERE LYES THE BODY OF
RICHARD OTWAY CITIZEN
AND MARCHANT TAYLER OF LONDON WHO WAS BORNE
AND DYED IN THIS PARISH AFTER HE HAD LIVED IN
THE FEARE OF GOD THREE SCORE & FOVRTEENE YEARES
AS BY HIS DEEDS OF PIETY AND CHARITY MAY APPEARE
HEE WAS BURIED THE 10TH OF IANVARIE 1621 STILO
ANGLIAE
IAM SEPVLTVS TANDEM RESVRGAM
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Richard Otway was a citizen and
Merchant Taylor of London and yet was
born and died in Felmersham. Does this make him our first commuter?
The Latin inscriptions, on the brass plaque, are of interest:
Stilo Angliae (English style)
In 1582 Pope Gregory introduced changes to the Julian Calendar because of
accumulative errors which caused "calendar drift". So in October 1582 the
modifications were made which involved "loosing" 10 days. ie The Calendar
jumped from Thursday 4th October 1582 to Friday 15th October 1582. He also
decreed that the New Year would start on the 1st January and not 25th
March (Lady Day).
By 1582 the
Reformation had separated us from papal practice and authority, so the
changes were not made to the English Calendar until 1752 when the
Gregorian Calendar was adopted.
Richard Otway's executors were aware of the two different dating
conventions in Europe, and that the attribution of a year to any date
between 1st January and 25th March was potentially ambiguous. The
executors
therefore tell us that Richard Otway was buried on the 10th January in the year 1621
English style, which means the 20th January 1622 in both the Papal style (of the period)
and in today's modern style.
Iam Sepvltvs Tandem Resvrgam ([Though] buried now, at the last I shall
rise again)
"I" means the physical I, "I in my flesh". The writer refers to the
Resurrection of the Body, which in 1621, was a highly cherished
article in the Apostles' Creed. At the last trump our bodies (even though
destroyed by worms) would rise from the earth and be reunited with our
souls.
Latin Translation by Patrick Lepper |
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The Rev Thomas Orlebar Marsh 1749 - 1831 |
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Ref: 37.
SACRED TO THE MEMORY
OF
THE REVD. THOMAS ORLEBAR MARSH
OF FELMERSHAM HOUSE, IN THIS PARISH
AND VICAR OF STEVINGTON
BORN IN 1749. DIED 25TH DECEMBER 1831
ALSO OF
.............
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The Rev Thomas Orlebar Marsh was
born in Felmersham House in 1749
and attended a school kept by the
Rev Samuel Rogers at Chellington.
It was intended that he should
follow his father into a career in
law, however being of a mild and
unobtrusive disposition he
preferred the Church.
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In 1776,
at the age of 27, he was appointed
vicar of Stevington, although he
continued to live in Felmersham
where he studied botany and
fossils. He made several
contributions to published works
but never published his own work
in book form. He studied Hebrew
and poetry and made notes on local
events and items of interest
within the parish.
Orlebar
Marsh remained vicar of Stevington
for the whole of his ministry
until he died on Christmas Day in
1831, at the age of 82.
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Felmersham House circa 1820
watercolour by Thomas Fisher
demolished circa 1836 replaced by
Felmersham Grange |
He had
spent all his life living in
Felmersham House and on his death
the property passed to his wife
who outlived him by only 10 days!
William Edward Ludlow, her son by
a previous marriage, inherited the
property and in 1834 he sold the
estate by public auction to
Charles Smith. |
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Henry Hilton Green 1839 - 1915 |
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Thomas Abbott
Green purchased Felmersham House (pictured above) in 1836, which was described
as being a decent farmhouse with stables, coach-house, and
having a barn. However, soon after purchasing the property Mr
Green demolished the old house and replaced it with Felmersham
Grange. On his death in 1855 the property passed to his widow
and following her death in 1862 the property was inherited by
her eldest son Henry Hilton Green. Thus began a period of
wealth and expansion which brought employment to local people
as servants, stable hands, estate workers and farm workers. |
Felmersham Grange, late 1960's,
after separation into two properties. |
Henry married
Jane Bourne, an Irish woman, and they had eight children. His
family inherited his love of sport and two of his daughters
were internationals at hockey. He doubled the size of the
Grange in 1886 by adding the eastern extension. Henry was very
active in politics and public life; he was at various times
Churchwarden, JP for Sharnbrook Magistrates Court, High
Sheriff and Deputy Lieutenant of Bedfordshire.
Henry Hilton
Green died in 1915 at the age of 76 and was buried in the
chancel. In his will he
bequeathed a trust fund to provide help for the poor of the
parish at Christmas. The Green family have their own burial
ground in the north west corner of the churchyard which, at
one time, was enclosed by railings and a gate. The Lych gate
at the entrance to the churchyard, was built to his memory. |
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Ref: 40. |
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN EVER LOVING
MEMORY OF
HENRY HILTON GREEN
BORN APRIL 21:
1839
DIED AUGUST 11: 1915
BURIED IN THIS CHANCEL
AND OF HIS DAUGHTER
HELEN MARGARET
BATCHELOR TAYLOR
WHO DIED WHILE NURSING
ON ACTIVE SERVICE
AT MALTA ON NOVEMBER
15:1915
IN HER 42ND YEAR
THE LYCH GATE AT THE
ENTRANCE TO THE CHURCHYARD
WAS ERECTED BY MEMBERS
OF THE FAMILY.
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HENCEFORTH IS DEATH
BUT THE GATE OF LIFE IMMORTAL |
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Mrs Helen Margaret Batchelor Taylor was the daughter
of Henry and Jane Green who served as a nurse in
the First World war. She was a member of the
Voluntary Aid Detachment, attached 4th Battalion,
Bedfordshire Regiment. On 15th November 1915
she died whilst serving in Malta and is buried in
Pieta Military Cemetery, Malta. Her name is recorded
on the war memorial and on a plaque in the church. |
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Joseph Pain
(1797 - 1860) |
Ref: 7.
Sacred to the Memory
of JOSEPH Son of
THOMAS and ELIZABETH
PAIN
DIED APRIL 11th 1850
AGED 86 YEARS
(In brass)
The
above inscription, in the centre aisle of the church, is in
memory of Joseph Pain (1764 - 1850). Joseph (1) was one of three sons
born to Thomas Pain (2) and Elizabeth Pain. The others were
William bapt. 1766 and Thomas (3) bapt. 1762. Thomas (3)
eventually inherited his fathers farms and his eldest son was
also named Joseph Pain (1797 - 1860) and it is this Joseph (2) who
is featured opposite. |
Joseph Pain (2) was a
gentleman farmer from yeoman farmer stock, whose family had been farming in Felmersham for
several generations.
The 1851 census for the parish was taken when the agricultural
industry was booming and the number of people working in
agriculture at a high point. Out of a total population of 520
there were nine farmers, 138 agricultural workers and two
shepherds living within the parish. Joseph Pain was by far the
most successful farmer, he farmed 1180 acres on three farms
employing 76 men and boys, 3 sons, 3 servants and a nurse.
In 1818 he contributed £50 towards the building costs of
Felmersham bridge and was Churchwarden for 40 years. |
Ref: 21. Joseph Pain's
grave |
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Joseph lived in the farm
house known as “Majors”, which is now known as “The
Manor House” in Memorial Lane, with his wife, Mary, and
their eleven children.
By 1840 he was sufficiently
wealthy to build the elegant extension to his more modest
farmhouse. The late Georgian style building on the corner of
Memorial Lane and Church End, is a fine example of a
vernacular house for the period.
In 1853 Joseph Pain sold all his farming interests in the
parish to Joseph Tucker, of Pavenham Bury, and then rented
back.
He died in 1860 aged 63 |
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Gypsy Joe Smith
and his wife Abigail, known as Annie,
were well known in the parish and as
they got older they adopted the parish
as their home. They camped on the grass
verge along Carlton Road and carried all
their worldly goods in two trucks and a
pram. Joe earned a living by working on
local farms, laying hedges, collecting
rags and bones and occasionally scissor
grinding. They visited local pubs where
Joe smoked his clay pipe, sharing it
with Annie.
Annie passed away
first and as Joe got older he was
presented with a wagon in which to live,
but he always preferred to sleep in the
open, even on the coldest of nights.
When he passed away in 1976 he was
buried in Felmersham churchyard and the
parish marked his grave with a
headstone. Ref. 214 |
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